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      Effect of pre-milking teat disinfection on new mastitis infection rates of dairy cows

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          Abstract

          Background

          The practise of teat disinfection prior to cluster attachment for milking is being adopted by farmers in Ireland, particularly where there are herd issues with new infection rates. Pre-milking teat disinfection has been shown to reduce bacterial numbers on teat skin and to be most effective against environmental bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Streptococcus uberis. A split udder design experiment was undertaken on two research herds (A = 96 cows: B = 168 cows) to test the benefit of pre-milking teat disinfection on new mastitis infection levels. The disinfectant was applied to the left front and right hind teats of all cows in each herd and the right front and left hind teats received no disinfectant treatment prior to milking over a complete lactation. Individual quarter foremilk samples were taken on 5 occasions during the lactation and all clinical cases were recorded. The presence and number of staphylococcus and streptococcus bacteria on teat skin of a random sample of experimental cows ( n = 20) was measured on 3 occasions during lactation (April, June, and October).

          Results

          Pre-milking teat disinfection had no significant impact on quarter SCC and new infection rates ( P > 0.05). The median SCC was 169 (95% CI = 144–198) × 10 3 cells/mL and 170 (95% CI = 145–199) × 10 3 cells/mL for disinfected teats and non-disinfected teats, respectively. There were no differences in SCC observed between herds (A = 161 (95% CI = 127–205) × 10 3 cells/mL; B = 169 (95% CI = 144–198) × 10 3 cells/mL) over the complete lactation. Bacterial levels on teat skin were reduced significantly with pre-milking teat disinfection compared to teats receiving no disinfectant ( P < 0.001). Total infections (clinical and sub-clinical) were similar for disinfected teats ( n = 36) and not disinfected teats ( n = 40), respectively. Staphylococcus aureus ( n = 47) and Strep. uberis ( n = 9) were identified as the predominant bacteria in quarter foremilk samples with both clinical and sub-clinical infections.

          Conclusion

          SCC and new infection rates were similar in non-disinfected teats and disinfected (pre-milking) teats. The routine application of pre-milking teat disinfectant in pasture-grazed herds is unlikely to be of benefit where herd SCC is below 200 × 10 3 cells/mL.

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          Most cited references22

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          Ecology of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from various sites on dairy farms.

          The purposes of this study were to identify sources of Staphylococcus aureus on dairies and to determine whether S. aureus colonization of heifer body sites increases the risk of S. aureus IMI at parturition. In herds with high (> 10%) or low (< 3%) prevalence of S. aureus IMI, S. aureus was isolated from heifer teat skin, heifer external orifices, housing, feedstuffs, humans, nonbovine animals, air, and equipment. Additionally, in herds with high prevalence, S. aureus was isolated from bedding, insects, and water. The predominant sources of S. aureus for both groups were other IMI and heifer body sites. Heifers with prepartum lacteal secretions with S. aureus were at greater risk of S. aureus IMI at parturition than were prepartum heifers with lacteal secretions that were negative for S. aureus. Heifers with teat skin colonized by S. aureus were 3.34 times more likely to have S. aureus IMI at parturition than were noncolonized heifers. Overall, 35% of 700 heifers were colonized with S. aureus on a body site at least once. Although colonizations of most body sites appeared to be transient, a few heifers were colonized on the same site for 1 yr. Persistently colonized heifers may represent the primary reservoirs of S. aureus for other heifers.
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            Pathogen profile of clinical mastitis in Irish milk-recording herds reveals a complex aetiology.

            Effective mastitis control requires knowledge of the predominant pathogen challenges on the farm. In order to quantify this challenge, the aetiological agents associated with clinical mastitis in 30 milk-recording dairy herds in Ireland over a complete lactation were investigated. Standard bacteriology was performed on 630 pretreatment quarter milk samples, of which 56 per cent were culture-positive, 42 per cent culture-negative and 2 per cent contaminated. Two micro-organisms were isolated from almost 5 per cent of the culture-positive samples. The bacteria isolated were Staphylococcus aureus (23 per cent), Streptococcus uberis (17 per cent), Escherichia coli (9 per cent), Streptococcus species (6 per cent), coagulase-negative Staphylococci (4 per cent) and other species (1 per cent). A wide variety of bacterial species were associated with clinical mastitis, with S aureus the most prevalent pathogen overall, followed by S uberis. However, the bacterial challenges varied widely from farm to farm. In comparison with previous reports, in the present study, the contagious pathogens S aureus and Streptococcus agalactiae were less commonly associated with clinical mastitis, whereas, the environmental pathogens S uberis and E coli were found more commonly associated with clinical mastitis. While S aureus remains the pathogen most commonly associated with intramammary infection in these herds, environmental pathogens, such as S uberis and E coli also present a considerable challenge.
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              Effect of pre-milking teat preparation procedures on the microbial count on teats prior to cluster application

              A study was carried out to investigate the effect of six pre-milking teat preparation procedures on lowering the staphylococal, streptococcal and coliform microbial count on teat skin prior to cluster application. The teat preparations included 'Iodine', 'Chlorhexidine' teat foam, 'Washing and drying' with paper, 'No preparation', 'Chlorine' teat foam, and disinfectant 'Wipes'. Teat preparations were applied for five days to 10 cows for each treatment during two herd management periods (indoors and outdoors). Teats were swabbed on day four and five before teat preparation and repeated after teat preparation. The swabs were plated on three selective agars: Baird Parker (Staphylococcus spp.), Edwards (Streptococcus spp.), and MacConkey (coliform). Following incubation, microbial counts for each pathogen type were manually counted and assigned to one of six categories depending on the microbial counts measured. The results were analysed by logistic regression using SAS [28]. The main analysis was conducted on binary improvement scores for the swabbing outcomes. There were no differences for staphylococcal, streptococcal and coliform bacterial counts between treatments, measured 'before' teat preparation. Treatments containing 'Chlorhexidine' teat foam (OR = 4.46) and 'Wipes' (OR = 4.46) resulted in a significant reduction (P < 0.01) in the staphylococcal count on teats compared to 'Washing and drying' or 'No preparation'. 'Chlorine' teat foam (OR = 3.45) and 'Wipes' (3.45) had the highest probability (P < 0.01) of reducing streptococcal counts compared to 'Washing and drying' or 'No preparation'. There was no statistical difference between any of the disinfectant treatments applied in reducing coliforms. Thus, the use of some disinfectant products for pre-milking teat preparation can have beneficial effects on reducing the levels of staphylococcal and streptococcal pathogens on teat skin.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                david.gleeson@teagasc.ie
                Journal
                Ir Vet J
                Ir Vet J
                Irish Veterinary Journal
                BioMed Central (London )
                0368-0762
                2046-0481
                18 April 2018
                18 April 2018
                2018
                : 71
                : 11
                Affiliations
                ISNI 0000 0001 1512 9569, GRID grid.6435.4, Teagasc, Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, ; Moorepark Co Cork, Fermoy, Ireland
                Article
                122
                10.1186/s13620-018-0122-4
                5907382
                29321918
                d664eed5-5815-4848-a0c7-90753da048e9
                © The Author(s). 2018

                Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

                History
                : 10 November 2017
                : 11 April 2018
                Categories
                Research
                Custom metadata
                © The Author(s) 2018

                Veterinary medicine
                teat disinfection,somatic cell count,dairy cows,teat condition
                Veterinary medicine
                teat disinfection, somatic cell count, dairy cows, teat condition

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